The ice speed skating season is approaching and the International Skating Union confirmed their World cup calendar.

Photos: Schaats Foto'sThe 2017-2018 season was packed with emotions and strong performances and we can already predict that the next season will be another great one! Here are your 2018-2019 speed skating calendars in short and long track:

World Cup Short Track #1 - Calgary, CAN, Nov. 02-04 2018

World Cup Short Track #2 - Salt Lake City, USA, Nov. 09-11 2018

World Cup Short Track #3 - Almaty, KAZ, Dec. 07-09 2018

World Cup Short Track #4 - To be confirmed, KOR, Dec. 14-16 2018

World Junior Championships - Montréal, CAN, Jan. 25-27 2019

World Cup Short Track #5 - Dresden, GER, Feb. 01-03 2019

World Cup Short Track #6 - To be confirmed, ITA, Feb.08-10 2019

World Championships - Sofia, BUL, Mar. 08-10 2019

World Cup Speed Skating #1 - Obihiro, JPN, Nov. 16-18 2018

World Cup Speed Skating #2 - Tomakomai, JPN, Nov. 23-25 2018

World Cup Speed Skating #3 - Tomaszow Mazoviecki, Dec. 07-09 2018

World Cup Speed Skating #4 - Heereveen, NED, Dec. 14-16 2018

World Cup Speed Skating #5 - Hamar, NOR,Feb. 01-03 2019

Single Distances Championships - Inzell, GER, Feb, 07-10 2019

Junior World Championships - Baselga di Piné, ITA, 15-17, Feb. 2019

World Sprint Championship - Heerenveen, NED, 23-24, Feb. 2019

World Allround Championship - Calgary, CAN, 02-03, Mar. 2019

World Cup Speed Skating Final - Salt Lake City, USA, Mar, 09-10 2019

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After competing as a junior in a couple of distances at the championships collecting two 14th position on the road and track elimination races, Bohumský collected a solid 12th position in the overall marathon against all the senior skaters.

Yes, you read that right, at 16 years of age he finished 12th in the world in the marathon. He jumped in the right breakaway and worked as hard as he could to stay with them till the end. After kilometers and kilometers of effort, Bohumský managed to cross the line before skaters like Bart Swings, Nolan Beddiaf, Ewen Fernandez, Crispijn Ariens and many other superstars of the sport. You want to know what was the most impressive aspect of his performance? It was his first marathon ever and his only goal was to complete the whole distance. Has Czech Republic found his future big star?

«Now my goal is to take any medal from the upcoming European championships and next year to fight for the medal at World championships» said Bohumský when we reached out to him for comments. The young skater looks like he's motivated and it could be a big thing to help the developpement of skating in Czech Republic that is already going well.

You will be able to follow Tomáš’ performances at the European championships from the 17th to the 24th of August where he will compete in the Junior B category.

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29 juillet 2018

A specific performance or an athlete’s entire career can become an inspiration for a younger generation. Today, we present you two special edition #SpeedInterviewing segments with Canadian short track skaters who were ready to share who inspired them on the ice. Filmed last year, these are the last clips of those interviews shot with canadian skaters during the 2017 Selections. Can’t wait for September to produce a new batch for you, our awesome followers!Text and videos by Carl SavardHere's our video on which international skaters inspired our Canadian skaters:

Here's our video about which Canadian skaters inspired our Canadian athletes:

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A month and a half has gone by since Speed skating Canada announced that Derrick Campbell had given his resignation as Canada’s head coach of the men’s short track speed skating national team to join team China. Six weeks and the organization in charge of replacing him hasn’t announced yet who will be his successor. For sure, Speed skating Canada isn’t pressured by the media like the Montreal Canadiens or any European football club’s organization can be, but the clock is ticking. A head coach is the mastermind behind training plans, leads the training sessions, coaches the athletes to display their full potential, but more importantly, will remind them of the meaning of all the efforts they deploy to prepare for war against their opponents. The head coach is the skeletal structure on which, just like muscles, the athletes will attach to form a unit heading towards the same cardinal point. A common goal. We are just two months away from the national selections that will determine who will represent Canada on the World cup circuit this fall and at this moment, the athletes have to deal with different coaches with different ways while everyone waits to see which direction Speed skating Canada wants to go. Definitely not an ideal situation.

I think the only positive outcome would be that this long period means Canada is looking for a change. It would certainly be easier for Canada to try to stay on path and just move a few pieces of the existing puzzle, but would it be the best decision? Canada, along with Korea and China, has been at the top of the short track pyramid for a while now, but staying on top is more difficult than reaching the summit because you end up thinking your way was the best way and you can end up on autopilot. It may be time for Canada to take some pages out of the book of the countries that are coming up and one of them is the Netherlands. The Dutch program went from pretty much nothing in short track to developing one of the strongest team in the world and it took them about a decade. Their program is open to athletes from other countries paying a good amount of money to use their facilities and learn from their coaches. Money that is reinvested in the program. It forms complete athletes who deal in a positive way with the fact that athletes from other countries train with them even though they will battle against each other on the ice. They train in big groups where male and female skaters are on the ice at the same time. Things Canada should definitely consider. Even though some major changes were made at Speed skating Canada's office in 2016 after bad budgeting saw athletes needing the support of their fans and provincial federations to be able to skate in two World cup events, it is this season that we will see which way the revamped head office wants to go. Why? Because last season was an Olympic games season and when the Olympics are around the corner, everybody wants to join and help. It's all sunshine and rainbows. This year is Year One.

What if Canada was ready for a change of philosophy? Some of the coaches we presented you last month have great resumes even though they aren’t part of the actual team of coaches. What if, to make sure that situations like 2016 never happens again, Canada would start opening its doors to a new sources of income and new ways of training? What if Canada was presently looking for the right coach for their athletes but a coach who is ready to bring some changes?

Off the record, some athletes are getting impatient and express dissent about the situation. It’s now time to name their new captain. It may also be time to refresh the boat. Don't forget to join our weekly newsletter by clicking HERE. If you do so before August 5th, you'll get a chance to win 150$ in speed skating gear.

Inline speed skating world champion Elton de Souza was running a speed skating clinic in Laval, Canada last weekend.

By Jackob Savard

Images: Carl Savard, Jackob SavardVideo editing: Jackob Savard

It's with the desire of spreading his love for speed skating all around the world and to live off of his passion that Elton de Souza started coaching speed skating clinics all around the world a couple of years ago. After coaching in places like Cuba and Indonesia, it’s in Canada that Elton's path stopped this weekend.

The speed skaters present at the clinic had the privilege of learning a lot from the 2018 relay world champion. They learned de Souza’s warm up routine, did technical laps, had the chance to practice their peloton skills and many other elements of inline skating during the two days clinic. De Souza was an excellent teacher and skaters of all ages and all levels appreciated his presence.

A longer article about Elton de Souza will be out in a couple of weeks since we had the privilege to sit with him and chat for a long moment during the weekend.

It’s with a lot of pride that the International skating union (ISU) announced that their request to add a mixed gender relay event in short track for upcoming Olympic games was granted by the International olympic committee (IOC).

Three years. That’s how long it took for Canada’s Nathalie Lambert and the rest of the ISU’s short track technical committee to bring this breath of fresh air to the the short track world. Since she became active with the ISU in 2011, Lambert wanted to make sure her beloved sport would move forward. "We made sure all the parameters that could help a positive outcome to our request were taken care of. The new event needed to fit in the actual five days schedule of our sport at the Olympics. We needed to make sure it wouldn't need a larger amount of athletes and there was also the mixed gender criteria and the fact that it would only add one podium. We also had to take into consideration that idealy a country could not win the three medals of the podium and we brought all that to the table." This is a major step and knowing the three-time world champion, her and her colleagues probably already have other plans on the drawing board. It’s last October that the technical committee and the Beijing 2022 olympic committee joined their voices to present the project of having a new short track event at the Olympics. With the IOC wanting to move forward with mixed gender events, that’s what the ISU's short track technical committee offered.

The event

The new event will be a relay with teams made of two female skaters and two male skaters. The exchange order will be lady, lady, man, man and everyone will have to do their relay at the same spots during the race which will be every 2.5 laps. Only once will a man push a lady during the race. If there is a fall, only the athlete of the same gender than the one who fell will be able to tag and take the relay. The event was tested three times last season, including one time in Montreal during the week leading to the World championships, and will be inserted this upcoming season on the World cup circuit starting in November in Calgary. It will be raced in every legs of the 2018-19 season and checks will be awarded at the end of the season to the top 5 teams. As for the World championships, the mixed gender relay should debut in 2021, which is the season before the next Olympic games.

What do the athletes think about it?

Kim Boutin (Canada): “It’s fun to have a new event. It will be a good show but also a good challenge. I find it interesting to mix the the boys and the girls to show a country’s strength as a whole and I’m not too worried for Canada! We’ve done mixed relays in the past during training so it shouldn’t bring to much change to our training schedule.”

Elise Christie (Great Britain): “I think it’s a great idea and I really hope we can enter a team!”

Pascal Dion (Canada): “It’s a great thing! I think it will be a new style of racing that will bring more passing opportunities.”

Liu Shaolin Sandor (Hungary): “There has been talks about it for a while. I’ve never tried it but I’m really looking forward to compete in this new distance with my teammates. I think it can be exciting. We will have to adjust when we push the girls but it’s good for the sport and it’s a distance that will be fun to watch.”

Daan Breeuwsma (Netherlands): “I think it’s really nice and it may get me to skate four more years. It’s a great move! We always train with the girls so I think it’s perfect for us. I think we will have a really good team.”

Even though the event has been tested, I’m pretty sure there may be some tweeking here and there before the Olympic games in 2022, but the vibe about this new event seems very positive all over the short track world. Don't forget to enter our contest to win a 150$ gift card on any speed skating item by joining our weekly newsletterHERE.